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Climbing Aids - part 4
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The devices to keep him from slipping—the ice ax, nail patterns, crampons, ice pitons, ropes, carabiners— have become rather highly developed. How to use these tools properly on steep ice and snow seems to have been an elusive problem and for a while the techniques in use were apt to be inadequately formulated even though used on actual climbs. In the Northwest where the glaciers are more readily accessible for the weekend practice session, belay experience has progressed to the point where choice of the best belay technique can be made and detailed with some degree of confidence. Mere discussion of these techniques is not enough; the climber who belays successfully on ice and snow is the one who has thoroughly practiced the use of the belaying tools and knows their limitations well. For a more detailed discussion of the techniques that
follow, the reader should see Mountaineering: The Freedom of the Hills.
Body belay.—As on rock, it is better to interpose the resilient and well-positioned frame of the belayer between the climber and the belay anchor wherever possible. Anchors are best achieved through the use of ice bollards or ice pitons, never by means of an unattended ax. A third man may anchor the belayer by using an ax belay. The techniques for belaying will be as described for rock. Remember that sharp ice will abrade a rope as quickly as sharp rock.
Boot-ax belay.—The only effective way to anchor the ax is to drive the shaft as far as possible into the snow. The depth of penetration and the snow conditions will directly affect the value of the belay. Ideally, the ax will be driven in to the hilt at the back of a small platform stamped into the snow, pick pointing into the slope. The belayer stands below the ax with the well-weighted uphill boot placed solidly against the shaft. The ax is also braced with the uphill hand. The rope from below crosses the toe of the boot, bends around the shaft and then continues around the boot heel, where the downhill hand controls it. The steeper the slope becomes, the more difficult to operate this belay, in which case (one hopes) ice will be present in which to place a secure ice piton.
On steep ice, a belay over the pick, the latter having been driven as far as possible into the ice with shaft flush against the slope, will give some support as an upper belay. In such cases, a boot-crampon spike belay is probably better. A fair sized step is cut and the crampon is stamped into the flat part of the step as deeply as possible and heavily weighted. The spike of the ax is forced into the step behind the boot (with pick also driven into the slope) and provides some additional holding power. The rope leads
through the belay as with the boot-ax belay. The belay is at best still not suitable as a lower belay and an ice piton should be placed.
For a summation on belaying that comprehends classical experience, the lessons learned in half a million man-hours of army rock-climbing, and strength of materials as documented by the National Bureau of Standards as well as other authorities, see Belaying the Leader: An Omnibus on Climbing Safety, by Leonard, Wexler, et al., Sierra Club.
Related terms include ski mountaineering and indoor skiing.
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